In the battle of social media platforms, many internet users have found themselves choosing between X, the platform formerly known as Twitter, and Threads, Meta’s answer. X has been in existence far longer, which makes it the more popular option, currently. But Threads is gaining traction and many X users are crossing out their usernames and jumping ship. So, what’s the difference between the two?
Hashtags
Hashtags are a mainstay of X, the bread and butter of many tweets. They’re not only used by individuals, but by businesses as a way to enhance marketing efforts and make their content more findable. Threads, on the other hand, does not yet support hashtags.
Direct Messaging
X allows direct messaging, although users can control whether or not this feature is enabled on their profile. Threads does not allow direct messaging.
Character Count
X allows posts to contain up to 280 characters while Threads allows up to 500. However, verified X users who pay $8 a month can increase their character count, going up to 10,000 characters. Verified users can also edit their posts (something Threads does not yet allow).
Links, Photos, and Video
Both X and Threads allow links, photos, and video. The biggest difference is video length, however. While X videos are limited to 2 minutes and 20 seconds, Threads are longer and extend to 5 minutes. X users who want the capacity to post longer videos can pay for verification and post videos up to 2 hours long.
Censorship
Elon Musk has been vocal about his desire to keep X a platform that celebrates free speech, although it’s not entirely censorship-free. Threads is perhaps too young to see exactly how much censorship it embraces, but Mark Zuckerberg has been involved in multiple censorship controversies over the years. This means Threads might not be as lenient with opinions as its competitor.
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